Optical connectors of various types are widely used in industry and, in particular, the SC type of connector has found broad application. The optical connector carrying the signal from one component is generally mated to a receptor on a second component. Frequently, it is also necessary to concurrently transmit an electrical signal such as by an edge card and introduce the electrical signal into a receptor in the second component. The optical receptor and the electrical receptor are commonly rigidly mounted adjacent to one another in a receptor on the second component and alignment of the optical connector and the electrical connector is required to assure transmission of the signals into the second connector.
The applicants are aware of the following U.S. patents which are directed to connectors:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor(s) ______________________________________ 3,848,951 Michaels et al 5,122,077 Maejima et al 5,181,858 Matz et al 5,288,250 Sumida 5,288,251 Sumida ______________________________________
Also, the following U.S. patents are directed to connectors combining electrical and optical cables:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor(s) ______________________________________ 4,449,784 Basov et al 4,597,631 Flores 4,678,264 Bowen et al 4,767,181 McEowen ______________________________________
However, none of these patents disclose a connector to accommodate both an optical and an electrical interface and to provide for self-alignment of the electrical interface.